**The family asks that no additional flowers be purchased. We'd hate to waste. Jacek is being laid to rest in small niche where there is no space for flowers. If you wish to make any donations please speak with Jacek's daughter Dagna about the family's plans.**

Born in Kraśnik, Poland, in 1987 Jacek Pielaszkiewicz left behind his beloved country and family along with his wife, Jolanta, and their daughter Dagna. Their dream was to reach America. Their first stop was Athens, Greece, where Jacek’s sister, Katarzyna, was already living. It may be a short flight away, but it wasn’t an easy trip, much like a great deal of his life. Leaving required securing a difficult to procure visa (at the time this was required in Soviet and satellite countries). The family was also tasked with doing so under fraudulent terms, a vacation. It was not much of a vacation. Jacek arrived with an assortment of goods to sell on the streets, courtesy of his mother-in-law, Teresa, and soon enough he found himself working in fish markets, his hands perpetually red from the ice.

Jacek would never reach America. As the Berlin Wall crumbled in late 1989, so did the Red Cross’s interest in bringing defectors to the U.S.A. Through the grace of his mother Mirsosława’s connections back home, the family found sponsors in Toronto, Canada, a far flung, never before imagined destination. Here Jacek found community, forging deep bonds with Indigenous people and immigrants who have also faced trauma, hardship and the difficult task of leaving everything behind.

Jacek remembered everyone’s birthdays and never missed a call on special occasions. He was a family man, forever obsessed with his only daughter. In his building he was a minor celebrity, and though he was a proud man who would often refuse help, once he made a friend or found an ally, they were his entire universe. Thank you to Zainab, Vanessa and their colleagues at Fred Victor over the years for looking after our beloved Jacek.

You will be cherished Jacek, never forgotten, forever loved and dearly missed. Survived by Mirosława Pielaszkiewicz (mother) Jolanta Pielaszkiewicz (wife), Dagna Gallinger (daughter), Katarzyna Kousoulas (sister), Christos Kousuloulas (brother-in-law), Tim and Patricia Kousoulas (nephew and niece).

Memorial visitation will be held at Turner & Porter Yorke Chapel (2357 Bloor Street West), Toronto on Wednesday, August 13, 2025 from 6-8 p.m. Funeral Mass will be held at St. Stanislaus Kostka Parish (12 Denison Avenue), Toronto, on Thursday, August 14, 2025 at 11 am. Interment to follow at Park Lawn Cemetery.